Steven Universe Inside Out
by bmidd111
Summary: You've seen the cartoon and you know about Steven's life. But did you know why he made these choices, and about the Emotions that influenced him? step inside the Half Gem's mind and see for yourself, see Steven inside out!
1. Three Gems and a baby

It had been a few days since Steven Universe had been born. The Baby was tiny and red, with a small patch of curly black hair and the even tinier pink Rose Quartz Gemstone on his stomach where his Belly Button would have been if he were fully human. As Steven's father ran through the snow with his son and a bag of baby supplies in his arms, what was happening inside the boys mind was even more interesting. Standing in a mostly empty space, were two girls. One was yellow with a blue glow around her form. She had short blue hair and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a light green dress with blue stars on it. The second girl was short and blue with short blue hair and blue eyes with glasses. She wore a white turtle-neck jumper with blue leggings.

Both had a portion cut out of their clothes to show that they too had the same pink stone on their stomachs. Neither emotion knew what to make of this, since the few times they had seen Daddy without a shirt, _he_ never had a pink stone. However, they figured they would find out later. Both girls were standing in front of a single stand with a button on top. Right now, the first girl, Joy was standing in front, pushing the button to convey a sense of contentment. Every once in a while, the second person, Sadness, would hold up a hand and Joy would move back. Sadness would then press the button to make Steven feel upset because he was cold and getting hungry. Both emotions knew from instinct, that Sadness would be at the helm for a while. As he was only a few months old, Steven was going to need Sadness to let his father know when he was hungry, when he was cold, when he needed a Nappy change and other things. Behind the two emotions, there was a short rack with around five orbs of yellow and blue. These were Stevens Short term memories.

Being only a baby, he couldn't remember very much yet. As the last blue memory clinked into place, Joy pressed a button in the floor and the rack holding all the memories opened up and all the orbs traveled down into Long Term Memory, which was only a few feet larger than the other place Steven and Daddy lived. Suddenly a new memory fell into Head Quarters. Except this one was glowing bright yellow. The two emotions watched as the memory traveled down under the floor and up into the strange white construct that neither seemed to have a name for yet. As the glowing memory clicked into place in the device, a line of glowing light shot out from Head Quarters and, as Joy and Sadness watched out the window, a huge construct was made. When the light faded, the two emotions saw that it was a huge island, depicting a man holding a baby. "Daddy Island" Joy said, with a big smile.

Soon they turned their attentions back to the view screen that was Steven's sight. Daddy held them gently but firmly in his arms as he walked over to a couch and sat down, while holding a warmed bottle of fresh milk. "Ooh, milk! It's my turn now, right Sadness?" Joy asked excitedly. Sadness nodded, "uh huh, we should be happy that we're eating and that Daddy's not letting us starve" she replied softly. Joy skipped back to the button and pressed it so that Steven felt happy and content again with the warm milk entering his tummy. Soon all the milk was gone, and, as Joy again made Steven feel content that he was full and warm, they began to notice that their boy's eyes were closing. Soon Steven was asleep and Sadness again pressed the button on the floor to send all his Short term memories to Long term.

"Okay, since Steven is having a nap, we should probably get some rest too" Joy said, skipping over to their two rooms. Sadness trudged along behind. Joy turned back to her companion, "awe, come on Sadness! I know being sad is your job, but aren't you at least proud of yourself? You let Daddy know that Steven was cold, so he got us into the warm house faster, you made sure he got nice warm milk so that he wasn't hungry any more, and today we got our first, what I have decided to call, Core Memory, and our first Island too! Surely, that's something to be at least a little bit happy about, right?" she asked. Sadness looked down, "yeah, I guess" she replied. "That's the spirit, now, let's have our nap, so that Steven can be happy or sad later, okay?!" she asked, before going into her bedroom.

Just before entering her own, Sadness turned back to the window of Headquarters, seeing the brightly shining island, that showed how much Steven loved his Daddy. Slowly, the tiniest of smiles crept on Sadness's face, before she entered her own room for a nap.

 ** _ŚÚ.ÌŎ_**

Sadness was the one who woke up first. She just felt compelled to, by a strong sense of feeling bad. The blue emotion walked up to the button and pressed it, causing Steven to wake up and begin to cry. As he wiggled around in his blanket, Joy came out of her room, "what's up Sadness, is Steven hungry again, or need to have a Nappy change?" she asked with a yawn. Sadness looked over at Joy, "I don't know, he just feels like something is wrong, so I'm letting Daddy know" she replied. Daddy looked down at them, "hey Stu-ball, you're doing a lot of dancing in their" he said softly.

"You wanna get out of their and show me your moves?" he asked as Steven finally broke free of the confines of the blanket and Daddy saw that he'd managed to open his onesie as a blue memory rolled into Headquarters. "Hey now, you unbuttoned all your buttons I buttoned up" he said, before blowing a raspberry onto Steven's chest. Joy smiled and pressed their button, making Steven laugh at the tickley feeling of the Raspberry. A yellow memory rolled in. Daddy then lay them down on the couch, "let's get you buttoned back up" he said, as he went to work doing up the buttons, with his sons hand on his mouth, "ookie pookie" he said as he finished.

Sadness pressed the button, making Steven feel uncomfortable again and pull open the onesie. "Wha- huh?" Daddy asked, looking down at the baby, "does your, Gem need to, breath?" he asked in confusion. "Hmm" Daddy thought for a moment, changing how he did up the buttons, "how about, this?" he asked. Neither Joy nor Sadness could see what he'd done, but they could both feel a much more relaxed vibe, and Joy went over and pressed the button making Steven laugh, while another yellow memory came in. Suddenly the doorbell was heard and Daddy left their line of sight. "Daddy left us, we should probably be sad" Sadness said, but Joy stopped her, "hold on a moment, we don't know how long he'll be gone, let's just wait a second" she said.

A minute later, Daddy came back in with three people Steven didn't know. "Who are they?" Sadness asked, "I don't know, but if Daddy's letting them in, they must be good people" Joy replied optimistically. She pressed the button and Steven looked over as Daddy came over with the three other people, "can I get you guys anything, we've got water, uh, old plates- how 'bout some- tea?" he asked. One of the new people looked down, as the tallest one came and sat next to Steven on the couch and neither Joy nor Sadness know what kind of look was on her face, "no, we're just here to drop off these gifts" she said shortly.

"Right, sure" Steven heard Daddy say, but he was more preoccupied with the pretty bright purple box with the pretty yellow ribbon over it. "What do you think they are?" Sadness asked. "I don't know, but they're pretty and the big person is giving us something, let's be nice" Joy replied, pressing the button, and Steven made some excited sounds. "You'll probably have to open that up for him" Daddy said. "It's just a box, made to look like it's been carefully wrapped" the big person said. Joy smiled, "she has a nice voice" she said, as the big person pulled the top of the box off, to reveal a long thing with a strange shape, "tada!" the big person said. "Woah!" Daddy exclaimed suddenly, picking up the thing and keeping it away from Steven, "thanks Garnet, but I don't think he needs this" he said.

"Oh he'll need it, in the future" the big person replied. Sadness looked at Joy, "what do you think she meant?" she asked. The yellow emotion shrugged, "I don't know, but look! We've got the pretty box!" she exclaimed excitedly, as she pressed the button and Steven laughed and held it up. "Let's open mine next!" the shortest person said excitedly, ripping open the brown paper to show a big box. "Wow, diapers! This is so practical!" Daddy said happily, taking the box. Suddenly he frowned, "wait, are these adult diapers? They're way too big for him!" The short person looked over at Steven, "so tell him to make himself bigger, you can do that, right little Greg?" she asked, rubbing his hair.

Joy pressed the button making Steven laugh at the attention. "You can call him Steven," Daddy said, and the purple person turned to look over at him. "That's the name Rose and I, liked the most" he explained. The two emotions inside Steven's mind looked at each other, "whose Rose?" Sadness asked. Joy shook her head, "I don't know" she replied. "Well, whatever you call him, he'll need this" the thin person said, handing another present to Daddy, "er, thanks," Daddy replied as he opened the present, "is it some kind of kids book?" then he deflated slightly, "oh, a dictionary" he said. "Obviously, it's the best gift for a being that can't yet communicate" she replied. "Well maybe you can use it to look up what 'a baby' is," Daddy said. "These gifts are great, but, Steven's just too young for this stuff" he continued, putting the present down on the big box.

Meanwhile Steven was passively sucking on his Dummy, "now-a-days he's really into this" he heard Daddy say. Suddenly a jingling sound caught his attention. Joy pressed the button, "ooh, ooh, it it?" she asked as Steven turned to look at where the sound was coming from, "yes, it's the jangly things!" she exclaimed, pressing the button again, making Steven laugh and try to reach for the jangly things. "Whoa, he loves it!" the short one said, taking the jangly things from Daddy and dangling them above him, "hey, lil, Steven" she said. Joy continued pressing the button with a smile on her face, and Steven reached for the jangly things and laughed. The thin one laughed slightly, "well, he's certainly, captivated with those things" she said.

The tall one chuckled slightly as well, "well next time we'll just bring a big box of keys for Steven" she said. Everyone laughed at this. Joy smiled, "you know, I like these new people, they're nice" she replied, as she absentmindedly kept pushing down on the button for too long. Suddenly a bright pink glow filled the room, emanating from Steven's Gem. Everyone gasped, even the emotions, as Joy's Gem also glowed. After a moment the glow faded, both inside and out. Suddenly a chime echoed in Headquarters and Joy and Sadness turned and looked as a yellow memory rolled into the room. This one was also brighter than the rest, but instead of glowing yellow, it glowed bright pink, while the inner part was yellow. The core memory travelled under the floor and into the tall holder thing with the other one.

When it had entered it's designated slot, a beam of bright white light shot out from Headquarters and a second island formed. However, this one looked strange. It was basically a huge version of Steven's gem. "Gemstone Island?" Sadness said in confusion. Joy shook her head, "we'll probably find out about this when we're older, right now, we have other things to do" she replied, going back over to the button, only to see them back in Daddy's van being held by the tall person and no Daddy in sight. "Wh-where's Daddy? What's going on?" Sadness asked, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "Now, now, I'm sure everything's alright, Daddy must trust these people with Steven, that's why he left us with them" Joy replied, trying her best to keep the situation calm.

The short one came up, "alright Rose, we saw that glow, so why are you still a baby!?" she asked in a strange tone of voice. Joy looked at Sadness, "what does that mean?" she asked. Sadness shrugged. "Is it," the short girl squinted her eyes, "really fun or something?" she asked, suddenly engulfed in purple light. When it faded, she was a baby like Steven. "Woah, cool!" Joy exclaimed, "how did she do that?" Sadness asked. "Garnet, hold me" the person who was now a baby said. The tall one picked her up too. "Alright, I get it, this rules" the new baby said. She suddenly threw her arms down, "but it's been so long, like months, that's longer than I was a toilet!" the baby exclaimed, jumping out of the tall ones arms, "come on Rose, you have to change back!" she exclaimed, "baby," suddenly changing back to what she looked like before, "normal, baby, normal, baby" as she said each of these, she changed between being a baby and her regular appearance.

"That's so cool!" Joy exclaimed, pressing their button and Steven laughed. The short person frowned, "it's so easy, why can't she do it?!" she asked. "Hey Joy, do you know what they're saying?" Sadness asked. Joy shrugged, "nope, but they're funny" she replied. The tall one turned him around to face her, "Steven, I understand that Greg is part of you, and you don't want to unfuse in front of him" she said, and her even tone of voice calmed them. Suddenly, the thing covering her eyes disappeared, and Joy and Sadness saw that she had three eyes, "that would be very rude, but he's not here right now, you can take a little break" the tall one said, handing him to the short person, "here, I will too" she said.

Suddenly, the tall person was engulfed in light like the other person had been. Before Joy could get excited that something cool was going to happen again, the light suddenly changed into different ones. "What! Where did the big person go?!" Sadness exclaimed, taking control and making Steven look around. "She was just here, where is she?" she asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Joy tried to comfort her, "oh, hey now, Sadness, it's okay, maybe she's just playing a game?" she suggested. But both emotions could feel the strain. First Daddy's gone, now the big person who was very gentle with them was gone too! Sadness hurried over to the button and pressed it multiple times, making Steven start to cry, and tears to trail down his cheeks.

Suddenly the big person was back, but Sadness continued to make the baby release his tension through tears. "Everyone calm down" they heard the thin person say as she came over and picked Steven up. "We can all see her, she's right their" she said. "She just can't reform, because she has this, baby, around her" the thin person smiled, but it seemed weak, "Rose, I know you're in their- I can let you out," she said, reaching down to their Gem, and touching it, "we'll be, together again" she said. Suddenly, Joy pushed the button and Steven giggled. Sadness turned to her fellow emotion, "sorry, it tickled" she explained. "I can't" they heard the tall person say, "I can't! she wanted this so much, I just, don't understand why!" the thin person said.

"Everything should grow, and everything should change and isn't it so great how it comes so naturally to humans?!" she asked, and Sadness noticed the tears running down the thin person's face, "well it's not natural for us!" she exclaimed. The thin person sobbed quietly, "it's not natural, for me" she said softly. "It will be," the tall person said, looking down at them, "for him" she said. All three of them looked down at Steven sadly, "what about Rose?" the short one asked. "This isn't about Rose, from now on, everything has to be about Steven" the tall person replied. All three looked down at Steven. Suddenly, the two emotions heard strange sounds, and the tall person opened the van door. Daddy jumped into the car with a blanket wrapped around him.

"It's Daddy!" Joy exclaimed, making Steven laugh happily. "Hey, wait a minute, why did you take Steven on a joy ride in the middle of a blizzard?!" he asked, taking him from the thin person. "See, I told you Daddy would come get us Sadness" Joy said to her shorter companion. Pressing the button again, Joy made Steven laugh and grab the blanket Daddy had wrapped around himself. Soon they noticed Steven's eyes drooping as he started to feel sleepy again, "Well, I'll see you later Sadness," Joy said as she went back to her room. "Okay, I'll see you later then Joy" Sadness replied, turning to look back at the screen. In truth, Sadness was actually the leader. Because everyone was feeling sad soon after Steven was born and because somehow, the baby could pick up on those emotions, Sadness was the first one to appear in Steven's mind, even though Joy was the one who handled most things in day to day life, as Steven was normally a very happy baby.

Looking out the window, Sadness stared at Steven's first two Islands of Personality. Daddy Island and Gemstone Island. Looking down at the Gem embedded in her own stomach, she hoped that one day, she would know more about their host, as their seemed to be a lot of things they didn't understand.

To be continued


	2. Gem Glow

It had been Thirteen years since Steven had been born. Inside Steven's mind, a lot had been going on. Three more emotions had appeared over the years and the one button that used to be used by all the emotions, had now been upgraded into a console to allow all of them to use it. The new emotions were Anger, Disgust and Fear. Steven rarely got angry, but he did get annoyed, so that was the most Anger had done since he appeared. Disgust was mostly used for foods their host didn't like, and fear was a crucial part of Steven Universe's psyche, due to the occasional disasters that occurred in the house the Gems and Greg had built for Steven to live in, and he kept their boy safe.

Today Joy was in control as the Idea Light bulb that she had put in Steven's head had him happily walking to The Big Donut, one of his favorite places to get a snack, to get his favorite Ice cream sandwich, Cookie Cat. As the Teenager entered the store and walked up to the small fridge in which contained the treat, Fear gasped in horror, and Sadness sniffled, before both Emotions practically pounced on their respective buttons and levers. A shout of horror and disbelief echoed from Steven's mouth, "noooooooooooooooo!" he cried. Fear slammed down a button and the short teen gripped his head, "this isn't happening, this has to be a dream!"he exclaimed. Looking around desperately, Steven ran over to the male employee of The Big Donut, latching himself onto the teen, "Lars! Lars, please tell me I'm dreaming!" he begged.

"Get off me man, I'm stocking here" Lars replied in annoyance, walking off and letting Steven drop onto the ground. Within Steven's mind a memory of combined purple and blue rolled into Headquarters. "I'm sorry Steven, I guess they stopped making them" the second employee, who was a short young woman with blond hair said as she leant over the counter. Steven pushed himself up, as Anger adjusted some things, to make him feel annoyed. "Stopped making them? Why in the world would they stop making Cookie Cats? They're only the most scrumptious and delicious Ice Cream Sandwich ever made!" he exclaimed.

"Don't they have laws for this!" he demanded. Lars sighed, "tough bits man, nobody buys them anymore," he said, turning and looking over at another, bigger freezer, "I guess they couldn't compete with Lion Lickers" he explained. Disgust, who had been sitting on the couch cleaning her nails, looked up, "wait what?!" she exclaimed in her disgruntled lazy tone. She stood up and walked over, "move aside" she demanded of the others, as the green emotion went to work, with some help from Anger. Steven groaned and stood up, walking over to the offending product, "ugh, not Lion Lickers, nobody likes them! They don't even look like lions!" he exclaimed. "Kids these days, I'll tell you what!" he said in frustration as he placed his hands on his hips.

Lars laughed, "well, if you miss your wimpy Ice Cream so much, why don't you make some with your magic belly button!" he mocked, walking away. Anger narrowed his eyes, "why that-" he muttered, pulling a lever. Steven turned to the lanky teen, "that's not how it works Lars!" he exclaimed. Sadness went over and pushed a button, as Steven lifted up his shirt and looked at his Gem, "right?" he asked himself. The boy sighed, going over to the freezer that once held his beloved Ice Cream Sandwich. And it was beloved, Joy thought as she looked out the window and saw Cookie Cat Island, which was basically a huge mountain of vanilla and strawberry Ice Cream with chocolate cookie rocks. With Sadness at the helm, Steven sighed, "oh sweet Cookie Cats, with your crunchy cookie outsides, and your icy creamy insides," he said as he drew a picture of a cat onto the front of the door with his finger.

Steven placed his forehead on the glass, "you were too good for this world" he whispered, before kissing the picture. Sadness was sniffling as the thought of never having such a nice treat whirled around in her head. "Uh, Steven?" Sadie asked. Said boy was hugging the freezer like a comfort toy. "Do you wanna take the freezer with you?" she asked in concern. Steven looked at her with wide sad eyes and nodded silently.

 ** _ŚÚ.ÌŎ_**

As Steven walked home, Joy was once again in control. Tied to their boys back was the empty Cookie Cat freezer, which was held in place with the cord. Fear looked on nervously, "um Joy? Maybe he shouldn't have used the cord, what if it electrocutes him!?" he asked, beginning to panic. Joy brushed him off, "oh please Fear, it's fine, it's not like it's going to come to life and attack us!" she replied. Fear shrieked at the thought and hid under the console. Joy hummed the tune of the Cookie Cat jingle along with Steven as he walked up the steps to the Beach House and opened the door.

Sadness went over and helped then, "hey guys, you won't believe this-" but he was cut off as a black and green monster leapt on him and hissed. Fear shrieked louder than before and was instantly up. He slammed his hands on the controls as Steven yelled in fright and tried to push the monster away. Suddenly a purple whip was wrapped around the creatures neck. Steven looked around the monster who was now being pulled backwards to see Amethyst holding said whip.

"Sup Steven" she said nonchalantly, as she flung the entire monster away from him. Pearl was standing on the Warp Pad with her spear out and knocking the monsters away with grace and elegance. One of said monsters was flung towards Garnet, who caught it with one gauntlet covered hand easily and snapped it in half like a twig. Joy squealed, "Garnet's so cool! I wish we could do that!" she exclaimed. The tallest of the three Gems continued punching and pulling apart the Centipede creatures with ease. Steven looked around the house, watching the monsters running around with Amethyst chasing one or two, and Pearl pulling a few off the couch as one chewed on a cushion.

Steven placed down the Cookie Cat Freezer, "awesome, what are these things?" he asked. Fear turned to Joy with an: 'are you insane?' look on his face, "what are you doing, these things are dangerous! Who knows what else they can do!" he yelled with a note of hysteria to his voice. Joy brushed him off, "oh come on, don't you think these are some pretty cool looking monsters?" she asked. Pearl picked up one of them, "urgh, sorry Steven, we'll get these Centipeetles out of your room, we think they were trying to get into the Temple!" she explained. The boy walked up to the thin Gem, "no, you don't have to get rid of them! They're really cool!" he exclaimed. Suddenly the one Pearl was holding spat out a glob of green stuff.

When it hit the floorboards, it quickly melted through them. Fear was now panicking, "they spit acid! Do you still think they're 'cool' _now_ Joy!?" he screamed. Before things could escalate, they heard a poofing sound and Steven looked over to see Amethyst standing in front of a wall, "um you guys, these things don't have Gems!" she called. Garnet walked over to where Pearl and Amethyst were standing, "that means there must be a mother somewhere nearby" she said calmly as another Centipeetle rose up behind her and hissed. However her fist shot out and she punched it into oblivion without even looking. "She is so cool!" Joy gushed. Looking out the window, Joy saw the new Islands of Personality that had been created in the 13 years Steven had been alive.

There was of course Cookie Cat Island, Daddy Island, whose name got changed to Dad Island, and had gotten much bigger since Steven was a baby. Garnet Island, which depicted Stevens relationship with the stoic Gem, which was Garnet standing at the top and holding Steven in her arms. She had gotten a lot nicer around their boy over the years. There was Pearl Island, which showed his relationship with Pearl. Amethyst Island, which was a very fun one. Silly Island, which was Steven's silly side. Serious Island, which depicted his serious side. Gemstone Island obviously, though they had never figured out how exactly that one worked, despite Joy trying over and over again. And Music Island. Steven was a very good singer and musician, being able to play many instruments.

Steven didn't really have many actual friends, so he didn't have a Friendship Island. "We should probably find it before anyone gets hurt" Pearl continued. Joy gasped and worked the console, "oh! Oh! Can I come!? Can I!? can I!?" Steven asked excitedly, turning from Garnet to Pearl. "Steven, until you learn to control the powers in your Gem, we'll take care of protecting humanity, okay?" Pearl asked, while snapping the head of a Centipeetle and letting it poof into clouds. Sadness went over and pressed a few buttons, sending a wave of disappointment through their host, "awe man" Steven moaned. Suddenly a noise over by the kitchen caught his attention. He saw one Centipeetle raiding the fridge, "hey, get out of our food!" Anger raged, going over and pushing a few buttons, "hey, get out of their! Go on, shoo! Shoo!" Steven demanded, scaring the Gem creature away from his food source.

Sadness adjusted some things, "awe man, they got into everything!" the boy moaned, as he watched Garnet step in front of the monster he'd just scared away and crack her knuckles, before she sent the Centipeetle flying across the room with a screech, "not cool!" Steven cried, before he looked back into the freezer and gasped with delight, courtesy of Joy. "No way!" he cried excitedly as he reached inside and took out one of the pink packets of food. On the front was the picture of Cookie Cat. "W-where did you get these?!" Steven asked, "I thought they stopped making them?!" he wondered out loud, as Pearl walked over and shut the fridge and freezer, "well we heard that too, and since they're your favourite-" she paused as Amethyst and Garnet came over to the kitchen, the short Gem pulling herself up to sit on the kitchen counter.

"We went out and stole a bunch!" Amethyst exclaimed. Pearl growled, " _I_ went back and payed for them!" she said forcefully. "The whole thing was my idea" Garnet said, dismissing her Gauntlets in a flash of light. Amethyst turned to the leader, "it was everyone's idea" she reminded. Within Steven's mind, the group of Emotions watched as the three Islands relating to the three Gems lit up and or did whatever they did to show that they were working. Joy smiled happily, before she had an idea. The glowing Emotion raced over to the stack of songs they knew, which was a lot, picked up the Cookie Cat Theme Song and placed it into the cartridge slot. Steven began to sing, "oooohhhhh! He's a frozen treat, with an all new taste! Cause he came to this planet from outer space! A refugee of an interstellar war! And now he's at, your local Grocery store! Cookie Cat! He's a pat for your tummy! Cookie Cat! He's super, duper yummy! Cookie Cat! He left his family behind! Cookie Caaaaat! Now available at Garbins off Route 109" he finished, as the Gems laughed and clapped.

Steven looked down at the Cookie Cat in his hand, "I can't believe you did this! I'm gonna save these forever" he said happily, "right after I eat this one!" Opening the packet, he took it out, "hello old friend" he said, then bit off one of the ears and chewed happily. Joy smiled as she let the delicious taste that had made her so happy during Stevens youth wash over her, "so good!" Steven exclaimed, before he turned to Amethyst, "I like to eat the ears first" he explained. Amethyst and Garnet looked at each other, "uh, Steven-" the purple Gem said. "Joy!" Disgust called inside Stevens mind. Joy looked over at her, "what is it Disgust?" she asked, going over to the window and looking at where her companion was pointing. Everyone went over to look. Gemstone Island was beginning to glow, just as Joy's Gem was. The now double glowing emotion raced back over to the console and made Steven lift up his shirt in excitement, "my Gem!" he cried.

"Try and summon your weapon!" Amethyst suggested excitedly. Fear started working the console, "I don't know how!" Steven cried, starting to worry. The Glow began to disappear, "ah! It's fading, how do I make it come back?!" he asked, jumping from one foot to the other in fear while holding his head. "Calm down Steven, breath, don't force it!" Pearl said. "Yeah, and try not to poop yourself either" Amethyst said. "Please don't" Garnet said. The three tried to help, but the glow disappeared entirely. Steven, Amethyst and Pearl all sighed while Sadness went up. The boy sunk to the floor as they all sighed in synchronised disappointment. "Awe, I was really close that time!" he whined. He replaced the half eaten Cookie Cat in it's bag and put it back into the freezer, "can one of you just explain how to summon a Weapon?" Steven asked.

Pearl raised her hand, "oh, I'll go first!" she sang.

 ** _ŚÚ.ÌŎ_**

The two of them sat under a Cherry Blossom Tree on a hill. "Pay attention to these petals Steven, the petals dance seems improvised, but it is being calculated in real time based on the physical properties of this planet!" the tall Gem exclaimed, before leaning down to the boy, "with hard work, and dedication, you can master the magical properties of your Gem, and perform your own dance!" she exclaimed.

Pearl cupped her hands around the pearl on her forehead, and her spear appeared in a flash of light. She grabbed it in one hand and held it out to the side of her body, where it lengthened slightly, then spun it around and slammed the butt end onto the ground. She held out her other hand and caught one of the petals, "like so" she then proclaimed like it was the simplest thing in the world. Both Steven and his emotions looked utterly confused.

Looking down at the ground, the boy picked up a handful of petals.

 ** _ŚÚ.ÌŎ_**

As he stood behind the Big Doughnut with Amethyst, Steven threw the petals into the air. Within his mind Disgust scoffed, "um, Joy, I don't think that's quite right" she said sarcastically from the couch. Joy waved a hand at her, "Shh, I'm trying to concentrate- Sadness, anything?" she asked. Sadness, who was standing at the window, watching Gemstone Island looked back at Joy, "not a Glint- oh Joy, this is hopeless!" she exclaimed, bursting into tears. "Not until we give up it's not!" Joy exclaimed. "Did Pearl tell you the petal thing?" a voice asked.

From the view screen, they saw Amethyst standing behind their host, "yeah, I need to practice really hard so I can dance like a tree, I think" Steven replied. Anger walked over, "what kind of an answer is that!" he demanded. Joy turned to him, "well, what do _you_ think she meant by that?" she asked. Anger thought for a moment, before he shrugged and walked away. "Listen Steven, all that practice stuff is no fun!" Amethyst took a bite of the donut she held, "whenever I need to summon my weapon, it just happens!" she explained, reaching up to the Amethyst Gemstone on her chest and pulling out her whip.

Then she sliced the bin in two, "see, didn't try at all!" she proclaimed proudly. The emotions and Steven were now even more confused. Joy looked over at the rest, "is it just me, or are all these explanations making us even more confused?" she asked.

 ** _ŚÚ.ÌŎ_**

Steven stood in front of Garnet on top of the hill that the lighthouse was on top of and that also rose above the Temple. "I'm sure Garnet will be able to explain this to us" Joy proclaimed, while the others weren't so sure. "So I'm supposed to work really hard and not try at all at the same time?" Steven asked. "Yes," the leader said stoically. Steven just stared at her. She raised her hands, both with a red Gem in each of the palms, "or- you can link your mind with the energy of all existing matter- channeling the energy of the universe through your Gem! Which results in-" her gauntlets appeared around her hands, "or at least that's my way of doing it" Garnet replied. Both Steven and his emotions were now so far away from understanding how to summon his weapon, as well as what Garnet said, that they felt as though they were floating out into space. "Ugh, this is hopeless, let's just give up!" Anger exclaimed.

Joy however shook her head, "no, these powers are a part of Steven, if they worked once, they can work again!" she cried.

 ** _ŚÚ.ÌŎ_**

Steven and the Gems now stood in the kitchen once more, "I think my best bet is to recreate what happened the last time my Gem glowed" the boy said. Amethyst hopped up onto the counter while Garnet stood next to it, "so, Garnet and Amethyst were here," he said pointing towards them, "Pearl was next to the fridge, Amethyst, I think your arms were crossed" Steven said. "Okay your Majesty" said Gem replied, folding her arms. "And Pearl," he said, going over to her, "your foot was like this" he said, adjusting Pearl's foot so that it was slightly crooked.

"I don't think it works this way Steven" she said. Sadness went over to Joy, "hey Joy, I think Pearl's right" she said, but Joy payed them no mind, he had been so close, she had felt it! this had to work! Steven went over to the tall Gem, "and Garnet," he pushed her face up a bit, "uh, yeah!" Steven then went and took the half eaten Ice Cream Sandwich out of the freezer, "then I took a bite of this Cookie Cat- oh, wait I sang the song first," he sang a short version of the theme song. No one laughed, Sadness took over again, "awe, it was funnier last time!" he said. Steven lifted his shirt and looked at his Gem. Not a glimmer of pink light. He sighed and sank to the ground again, "maybe I'm not a real Crystal Gem" he moaned.

Pearl knelt down next to the boy, "don't be silly Steven, of course you are!" she said confidently. "And you're fun to have around! Even if your Gem is useless!" Amethyst said, in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring way. Pearl growled. "I mean, you're one of us Steven, we're not the Crystal Gems without you!" the purple Gem said. Joy smiled and hit a few buttons, "yeah! Even if I don't have powers, I've still got- Cookie Cat!" Steven exclaimed, taking another bite of the desert, and Joy couldn't help but close her eyes and grin. "Joy!" she suddenly snapped her eyes open at the call and turned to look at Gemstone Island. It was glowing even brighter than before, along with her own Gem.

Looking out Steven's eyes when they heard Pearl say, "Steven, it's a shield!" they saw that there was in fact a bright pink shield being projected from Stevens Gem. Joy's eyes lit up and she began pressing lots of buttons. "Ahh! Joy! Wait!" Fear cried, but it was too late. "Oh, what?! I get a shield?!" Steven proclaimed excitedly as he opened his eyes and saw it. He then jumped in the air, "awe yeah!" he cried, but his excitement sent said shield shooting and bouncing all throughout the house until it lodged itself in the side and screen of his TV. Amethyst laughed in embarrassment. Steven held up the partly eaten Ice cream sandwich, "ah! Cookie Cat! I summon my weapon by eating ice cream!" he cried in excitement.

Pearl picked up the wrapper, "what's in these things?" she asked. Suddenly a big rumbling caught the group's attention. There were dozens, or maybe even hundreds of Centipeetles crawling all over the house. "What was that?" Steven asked. Garnet left the house and looked up to the roof, only to see a massive Centipeetle, "It's the mother" she said. The tall Gem then began jumping up the Temple Statue. Pearl looked up at it, before turning to the human/gem hybrid, "stay in the house Steven!" she called as she ran out as well. "No wait, I'm coming too!" he called, going back into grab the Cookie Cat freezer and all the Ice cream in his one. Fear looked over nervously at Joy, "um, are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, shivering.

Joy turned to him, "hey, we've got our weapon now, and it's a shield! What are you afraid of?" she asked. The purple emotion just whimpered as Joy directed Steven back outside. It was then that he saw the giant Centipeetle spraying acid at one of the hands of the temple. He picked up a rock and threw it at the monster's head, "hey!" he called. The Centipeetle turned to look at him as he placed the freezer down onto the sand. "Hey Joy, I think we should start running!" Fear yelled. Joy again brushed her companion off, "leave them alone!" Steven exclaimed. Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst looked out from behind the mostly melted hand. "Steven no!" they cried.

"Cookie cat, Crystal Combo powers, activate!" the boy cried as he took a bite of his Ice Cream Sandwich. The mother crawled up to him. Steven lifted his shirt, but his Gem stayed inactive. "Oh no" Fear said, Steven copying what he said. The purple emotion shoved Joy out of the way and began frantically pressing buttons, shrieking with terror all the while. The human/Gem hybrid picked up his Cookie Cat Freezer and ran away from the monster, screaming the whole while. He eventually stopped and put the freezer down again. Sadness went up to the console and began to make Steven cry, "goodbye my friends!" the boy said as he shoved the Ice creams into his mouth. His stomach rumbled, but his Gem stayed stubbornly inactive, "why isn't it working!?" he demanded.

The monster sprayed a stream of acid at him. Fear again pounced on the control panel and caused Steven to jump out of the way. "Steven!" Garnet called, before catching the pincers of another monster with both hands. Steven pushed himself up and gasped in horror when he saw that the freezer had been partly melted and was letting out sparks of electricity. Sadness gasped, "the freezer!" she exclaimed, sobbing slightly. She took control and Steven got to his feet and ran over to it, "no! no! oh, no, no, no, no, no, no!" the boy cried. "Why that- that!" Anger exclaimed, rushing over to the console. As both Sadness and Anger worked the controls, Steven began to sing the Cookie Cat theme song again.

He stood up and picked up the cord for the freezer. "Ahhh! Be careful, there are sparks!" Fear exclaimed. As he finished the second last verse of the song, Anger had Steven throw the freezer at the Centipeetle. When it hit it, the monster was electrocuted. Sinking to his knees, the boy watched as the other Gems summoned their weapons and finished the monster off. Steven knelt on the ground, burying a wrapper from one of the Cookie Cats. Sadness was alone at the controls this time as she worked her magic, "farewell sweet Cookie Cats, I'll always remember the time we spent together" Steven said with tears in his eyes, as his stomach rumbled. He placed one hand on it and another to his lips, "shh, hush now" he whispered.

Amethyst came up behind the boy, "are you crying?" she asked. "Only a little!" Steven cried. She chuckled, "well, I guess your powers don't come from ice cream" she said in amusement, as Garnet and Pearl came up behind him as well. The thin Gem placed her hand on the back of Steven's head, "of course they don't come from ice cream," she said, before she crouched down so that she was on his level, "don't worry Steven, I'm sure some day you'll figure out how to activate your Gem" she said reassuringly. "Yes," said a voice from behind him, and Steven looked up to see Garnet standing behind him and looking down with a small smile, "in your own Steven-y way" she said. Within Headquarters, Joy looked out the window to see Cookie Cat Island turn grey, while Pearl Island and Garnet Island glowed just a little bit brighter. She smiled, even if he could never have Cookie Cats again, at least Steven's relationship with Garnet and Pearl had improved slightly.

She pressed a button, and the boy smiled and looked up at them, "I'm okay guys, I just-" he got cut off as his stomach rumbled, "I think I ate too many Cookie Cats" he said as everyone laughed. Steven chuckled slightly as well, before he doubled over the 'grave' and threw up. Disgust promptly pressed a few buttons and Steven moaned.

To Be Continued


	3. Laser Light Canon

Steven and Amethyst were running towards the Beach City Fries, "Hey Fryman!" the boy said when they stopped, and he placed his hands on the counter top, "give me The Bits!" Steven said. However Mr Fryman frowned, "Steven, we're closed" he said. Within the boy's mind, Sadness pressed a button to send a wave of disappointment through the boy, "awe, what?" he asked. Suddenly Amethyst slammed her fists on the counter, "give 'im the bits! The bits! The bits! The bits! The bits!" both Steven and Amethyst began chanting, and Joy couldn't help but get caught up in it.

"Okay, okay, take it easy on the counter, will ya?" Mr Fryman relented, before going off to get the Fry Bits for the Human/Gem hybrid. Steven and Amethyst turned to each other, "yes!" they declared together, before giving each other a high-five. "I can give you actual fries if you want" the fries stand owner said, placing the fry bits into a take away bag. Joy pressed a button "just the bits please" Steven replied happily. Mr Fryman handed the bag to him, and Steven grinned, "thanks" he said. As they began to walk away, Steven and Amethyst ate the Fry Bits together. All the emotions looked out the window, to see that Amethyst Island was running well.

"Well, at least everything's going well today" Joy proclaimed, as she turned to look at Cookie Cat Island, which, in the weeks since Steven had been unable to eat his favorite treat, had begun to fall into a state of disrepair. She sighed and closed her eyes, until she felt a hand softly rest on her wrist. Joy looked down to see Sadness looking up at her with sympathy in her large blue eyes, "there's nothing we can do" she said. Joy nodded, "I know, anyway, let's focus on eating our Bits" she replied, as everyone turned their attention back to the view screen. "Ah sunset, my favorite time of day, the sun goes down, and the second sun gets bigger and bigger in the sky" he said. Anger raised an eyebrow, "uh, joy?" he asked.

Amethyst burst out laughing, "yeah, that big-ass second sun-*gasp!*" she cut herself off as she turned forwards, "oh no! what is _that_ doing here?!" she demanded. Steven swallowed his mouthful of bits, "what is it?" he asked curiously. Suddenly the purple Gem picked him up. Fear slammed on the controls (do you see the pattern here?) and Steven cried out, first in slight fear, then in disappointment, "ah, my bits!" he exclaimed as Amethyst carried the boy away.

 ** _ŚÚ.ÌŎ_**

As they ran over to the beach, Amethyst called out to them, "Garnet, Pearl!" Pearl turned to face them, "we saw, some of us are trying to protect humanity- where were you?" she asked in slight frustration. "Eating Fry Bits" Amethyst answered simply after she'd put Steven down. The thin Gem groaned and placed a hand to her forehead. Joy's curiosity won out and she pressed a few buttons, "can I see?" Steven asked curiously. He went up to the telescope and looked up, "woah!" he exclaimed, as the ball in the sky opened and seemingly looked down at them, "It's a giant eyeball, awesome!" he exclaimed.

"Not, awesome, it's a Red Eye!" Pearl explained in frustration. Fear began panicking and Steven placed his hands on his hair, "a red eye! It's going to infect us all!" the boy cried. "That's pink-eye Steven" Garnet explained calmly, as Amethyst laughed. "It's going to crash into Beach City, and crush us! Along with a bunch of innocent people! We have to stop it!" Pearl explained. "What are we going to do?" Steven asked. "The only thing powerful enough to destroy it," Garnet began, adjusting her visor, "is the Light Cannon that belonged to Rose Quartz" she explained. "My Mom?" Steven asked, as all his emotions looked at each other. "If Rose was here, this would be so easy!" Amethyst moaned.

Pearl looked up, putting a hand to her chest, "I know," she said, looking back down at the two shortest members of the Crystal Gems, "but she's not, and the Cannon is missing," she placed her hand on her chin in thought, "we'll have to find another solution". Joy suddenly gasped and ran to Steven's idea basin and took what looked like a light bulb out, "I've got it!" she exclaimed, placing the bulb into a hole in the console. The light bulb lit up and was drawn into the hole, showing that Steven had taken the idea. "If it belonged to my Mom, I bet my Dad knows where it is" he said. Joy pushed a button, that caused Steven to get Starry eyes again, like he always did whenever he was excited about something.

"He can help us save the day!" he proclaimed excitedly. Pearl frowned, "Greg is, nice, Steven- but I doubt Rose would entrust someone like _him_ with such a powerful weapon" she replied. Amethyst placed one hand on the boy's shoulder, "your Dad is kind of a mess Steven" she said bluntly. Anger fumed, "what! What gives her the right to say that about our Dad!" he exclaimed, standing up from the couch where he'd been reading The Mind Reader, the title of which read: _'Beach City's destruction imitate, now it's Steven's turn to save the day!'_ . Before he could get worked up about it, Pearl had already cut in with a hiss: "Amethyst!" "I'm just sayin', even if she did leave it with him, he probably broke it, or lost it, or dropped it in the ocean by now" the purple Gem listed on her fingers.

Garnet nodded, "true". Joy began working again, "no way, I bet he's just keeping it somewhere safe- I'll go ask him!" he said optimistically, as he began running off to his Dad's Carwash. Garnet walked over, stopping the boy in his tracks, "we can handle this Steven" she said. The tallest crouched slightly, "ready" she said. Amethyst nodded and Garnet picked her up before leaping into the air and spinning around to gather momentum. Then she threw the purple Gem towards the Red-eye. Amethyst yelled as she sailed through the air and hit the piece of Gem Tech hard. Steven and his emotions winced as the other two Crystal Gems watched where the second shortest had fallen into the water, "uh, I'm gonna go" the boy said as he hurried away.

Pearl waved him off, "okay, good luck" she replied distractedly.

 ** _ŚÚ.ÌŎ_**

The boy banged on the back door of his fathers van, "Dad, It's me! Dad! Are you in their?" he called. Within Steven's mind, Fear frowned, "hey, Joy, I don't think this is such a good idea- I mean, what if he's trying to sleep?" he asked. Joy rolled her eyes, "even if he is, It's not like it would do any good! You heard what Pearl said! This Red-eye thing could destroy the city and everyone in it! we need to find Mom's Light Cannon so we can save everyone!" she replied. Anger growled, "this isn't getting us anywhere, let me do it!" he exclaimed as the others stepped away from the control panel.

Walking up to it, Anger adjusted some things, then shoved the levers on the control panel forward. This resulted in Steven becoming frustrated, and he began ramming the door of the van with his shoulder repeatedly, "wake up! We have to save the world!" he called, before climbing on top of the van. Fear began panicking, "no! no! no! this is dangerous! It's too high!" the purple emotion exclaimed. Anger rolled his eyes, "oh please, Steven's room is higher off the ground than this!" he replied in annoyance. Steven jumped up and down on the roof multiple times, before falling onto his back.

The Alarm activated then and Joy took over, "this should wake him!" she exclaimed, making Steven smile. Sure enough after a moment of muffled shuffling, Greg Universe burst out of the back of the van, "who's their!? I have a waffle iron!" he exclaimed, brandishing said cooking implement. Fear squeaked and hid behind Joy, who began pressing buttons and levers. "Dad, it's me" Steven said as his father turned to him and dropped the Waffle Iron with a clang. He blinked sleepily, then shut off the car alarm, "Steven?" he asked. Said boy climbed down from the van and walked over to his father, before giving him a hug. Joy smiled as another yellow memory rolled into place, among other yellow, red and purple memories from that day. "I almost waffled your face!" Greg exclaimed as he pulled away. "What are you doing up so late?" the man asked.

"What do you mean?" the boy responded, "the sun just went down an hour ago" he explained. Greg smiled in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his head, "it was a slow day at the Carwash" he explained. "Anyway, what's up? Just needed to see your old man? Pal around and learn some lessons about life?" he asked, placing his hand on his sons shoulder. Fear then took over, "okay, I think we need to stick to the problem at hand, so I'll handle keeping Steven focused on the disaster we're facing" he said. "No! I need the Light Cannon that belonged to Mom! To blow up that eyeball" Steven explained. "Eyeball?" Greg asked, confused. "That!" the boy replied, pointing towards the beach. Greg looked, and saw said eyeball, with what looked like Amethyst flying through the air towards it while yelling.

She hit it and bounced off, falling into the ocean once more. Greg turned back to his son, "wait, is that a magical thing? The Gems told me not to get involved with magic stuff, i-it could be dangerous, or interfere with what's left of my hair" he said. "But they need mom's Cannon, you've gotta know where it is" he said, as his father picked up his Waffle iron and put it back in the van. Joy ran to the shelves and picked up lots of imagination cartridges, before hurrying back to the console and placing the first one in it's slot, "like a cave dungeon," the first cartridge depicted a rock cave with lots of traps and dangers. Fear whimpered. "Or a Cloud fortress," the second cartridge showed a huge castle made of clouds floating in the sky, "or in a clam at the bottom of the ocean!" the third imagined scene showed a giant clam underwater opening up to reveal a beautiful mermaid sitting in said clam, and holding a big pink cannon in her arms.

Greg put his waffle iron back into the van and closed the doors, before he turned back to face Steven, "well, I don't know about all that, but I have an idea where it might be" he replied, smiling slightly.

 ** _ŚÚ.ÌŎ_**

Steven and Greg walked up to a big building. Joy hit some buttons, and Steven gasped and ran excitedly towards it, "a magical storage unit!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Heh, not exactly, but some would say there's magic inside!" Greg replied with a short laugh and a wink. He came over, "it's just a shed I use to keep things that don't fit in the van," the man explained, reaching down and unlocking the door, before pulling it up, "if it's anywhere, it'll be in here" he explained.

Steven walked inside and looked for a way past all the boxes. Suddenly one stack trembled and fell over, causing Fear to let out an "eep!" and push a button that made Steven step backwards. Joy then pressed some buttons and pulled some levers, which gave the boy a burst of optimistic determination, "if I'm going in there, I'm gonna need some gear!" picking up a torch that had rolled out of the pile and a sock that was on the floor, Steven made a makeshift diggers helmet. Disgust rolled her eyes, "uh, Joy, you do realize that you just made Steven pick a dirty sock up off the floor and he now has that sock tied to his head, right?" she asked in boredom.

Joy waved her off, "oh, stop nitpicking, he looks cool!" she exclaimed, pulling a lever, making Steven grin excitedly. Greg tied a long cord around the boys waist as a path back outside, "here I go!" the boy exclaimed, before turning and starting to climb into the unit, "good luck!" Greg said. Steven crawled under a long piece of wood, and Joy's eyes lit up, "whoa" they both said, as the boy stood up again and looked around. "Cool! It's like a dad museum!" he exclaimed excitedly. As he went deeper into the shed, Steven had to squeeze between two mattresses. Disgust shuddered, "uh, Joy, you do know how much bacteria is probably in these things, right?" she asked. Fear began flailing his arms around in a panic, "we're going to die!" he cried.

Joy sighed, "Fear, we're not going to die, and Disgust, it's not like it can be helped," Suddenly her eyes lit up when she saw something on the view screen, "their it is!" she exclaimed, making Steven excitedly run over to a cylindrical looking object and pick it up. Unfortunately the force he was using, made the boy fall on his bum. Unfortunately, it was just a bag of golf clubs. Steven turned back to look behind him, "do you golf?" he asked in surprise. His dad's voice drifted to him through the unit, "eh, I like to think of myself as someone who would Golf, eventually" he replied. The boy replaced the bag and continued looking. Suddenly Joy saw another object that was cannon-shape nearby. She pushed a button and Steven went over and pushed the stuff sitting on top of it off, "yes!" he exclaimed, however his excitement turned to disappointment soon after when he saw what it was: "a drum" he sighed.

Steven went to continue through the storage unit, but Joy stopped him and he went back over to the drum and hit it's surface once. Out the window of Headquarters, Music island lit up slightly and the drum that was their representing one of the instruments that Steven knew how to play, gave off a low beat, mimicking the sound of the drum on the outside. The boy continued digging through one of the piles, tossing each one aside when he saw that it wasn't what he wanted. Soon Steven found a box with a bunch of CD's in them. Joy pressed some buttons, "hey, there's a bunch of copies of your old CD!" Steven called. Greg groaned, "oh man, I couldn't give those things away!" he called. Joy pushed a button and Steven placed one of them in his back pocket. "You know, when I was a one man band, I traveled the whole country" Greg explained. Anger sighed, "we've heard this same story a hundred times, I'll tell him to bug off!" he exclaimed, going over to the controls.

Joy stopped him, "let's not be rude now, why don't we do it together? A little exasperated happiness?" she suggested. Anger shrugged, "okay" so the two of them worked the console. "I know Dad" Steven replied. "When I came to play a concert here in Beach City, no one turned up except-" Joy pressed a button, "an alligator!" the boy exclaimed. "No, it was your mother" Greg replied. Steven crawled across the ground, "I know!" he said with a laugh.

"We were always together after that, until she gave up her physical form to bring you into the world" Greg said. Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass caught their attention. Steven moved his knee away from a photo frame to see a picture of his dad and mom together, with Rose Quartz's eyes closed in peaceful serenity, and his father with half a hotdog sticking out of his mouth. Greg continued talking, "I don't know what a magic lady like her ever saw in a plain old dope like me". Sadness sniffled, while Fear gave a small shriek. Both emotions began pressing buttons and pulling levers. Steven gasped, "Uh, Dad, I broke a photo!" he called.

"It's okay buddy! If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs!" Greg replied. Suddenly a pink glow caught Steven's attention. Turning to the source with a gasp, Joy lit up and quickly pressed a button, "the Light Cannon!" her host exclaimed excitedly. "Dad I found it!" Steven exclaimed, quickly tying the cord securely around the cannon. "Get the van!" he called. After about a minute, The Light Cannon was pulled out of the shed- along with everything else in front of it, which was everything. Both Steven and Greg ran over to it, "this thing could save the city! We've gotta get it to the beach!" he exclaimed.

"How?" Greg asked, "it's too big for the van!" Just then an old wagon rolled back down to them.

 ** _ŚÚ.ÌŎ_**

After Greg had tied the wagon to the back of his van, both males worked together to lift and carry the extremely heavy cannon over to said wagon. Within Stevens mind, fear was biting his fingernails, "be careful Joy! The weight of this thing could break Steven's feet if he drops it!" he exclaimed in worry. "It's just a few more inches" Joy replied, as they all focused on the screen. "Easy does it!" Greg said, before both dropped the Cannon into the wagon. Unfortunately with how heavy it was, it broke right through the bottom of the wagon and hit the concrete underneath it.

Disgust scoffed, "nice going, now we're back where we started" she said. Steven and Greg looked at each other. They began to drive down to the beach, the whole time the cannon was being dragged across the pavement with a horrible, fingers down a blackboard scrapping sound. Fear was panicking, "we're going to break it, then the city will be doomed!" he cried. Joy shook her head, "no, no, it's a magical weapon, I'm sure it would take much more than being dragged across the ground to damage it" she replied. Steven turned in his seat in the front of the van to look out the back window, "is it gonna be okay?" he asked.

Greg shrugged, "if every pork chop were perfect-" he started, "we wouldn't have hot dogs!" Steven cried. Greg looked out the front window at where the Red-eye had gotten progressively closer to the planet, "that things gettin' huge, it's freakin' me out!" he said. "Can't the van go any faster?" Steven asked. Greg floored it and the engine made a grumbling sound, "this is faster!" he cried. Steven decided to put his father's CD into the player and sang along to the words. Disgust groaned, "seriously Joy? You just _had_ to put on Dads old CD? It's not even a good song!" she cried. Joy danced around, "well I like it!" she replied.

The song ended just as they reached the Gems. Garnet and Pearl looked over at the van, then down at the ground as Amethyst washed up, "throw me again! I _think_ I'm cracking it!" she cried excitedly. They turned as Steven got out of the van and waved excitedly, "hey guys!" he called, as Greg removed the Light Cannon from the old wagon. Pearl gasped, "he really had it!" she said. Amethyst stood up, "we're saved!" she exclaimed. It was then that the Red-Eye began to exert a gravitational force, pulling in stuff from all over. "We have to use it now!" Garnet exclaimed, as all three of the Gems ran over. Pearl touched the Cannon, looking for a way to turn it on, "I don't know how it works, it was Roses!" she exclaimed.

Steven turned towards his father, "Dad, how do we use it?!" he asked. Greg shrugged. Pearl looked at the boy, "Steven, this is serious!" she cried, then gasped, "the gem! You have Roses gem!" she exclaimed, picking him up and rubbing the boy over the cannon. Disgust groaned, "do they really think it's going to work like that?" she asked. Fear was panicking again, "well we have to figure out how it does, otherwise we'll all be gonners!" he cried. Suddenly the van, the cannon and Steven began to get pulled towards the Red-eye, "I got this" Greg said, unhooking the cord from the van, only for the van and Greg himself to be pulled across the sand, "oh, no, maybe I don't!"

Steven looked at the cannon, "please work! Unlock, activate, go, please!" he begged, banging on it with his fist, "everyone's counting on you, you can't just be useless! I know you can help!" he cried. "It's okay Steven, we'll figure out something else, something even better!" Greg called. Fear worried his bottom lip and pressed a few buttons, "r-r-right! If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs" Steven replied. Suddenly the Light Cannon began to glow and open up like a flower. "It's working!" Pearl cried. Suddenly it fell flat on its front. The Gems gasped. Fear let out a little shriek, but Joy directed Steven over to the front of the cannon, "come on! We can't give up! We're so close!" she cried.

Using his Gem strength, Steven began to lift the barrel of the cannon. Suddenly it lifted faster. The boy looked behind himself to see all three of the Gems helping him hold up the cannon, "Steven!" Pearl exclaimed, "this is it!" Amethyst cried, "brace yourselves!" Garnet called. The cannon fired, letting out a pink blast of light that first took the shape of a rose, then turned into a woman with her arms outstretched. The blast hit the Red-eye, which cracked and exploded. Pieces of the Red-eye fell all over town, and the concerned citizens all ran out of the way. Fear gasped within Steven's mind. On the outside, Amethyst turned to the boy, "Steven! You just saved _most_ of Beach City!" she exclaimed. "Sorry about that!" the boy called.

Mr Fryman's car alarm went off, and the man called out: "what!" Pearl turned towards the human-Gem hybrid, "how did you get it to work?" she asked. "I just said that thing that Dad always says" Steven replied. "You mean that thing about pork rinds?" Pearl asked, but Garnet placed a hand on her shoulder, "hot dogs" she corrected. Greg stared up at the sky with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes, "Rose" he said, wiping his eyes. Just then the tide came rushing back in and swamped them. Amethyst started laughing and Steven joined in. Greg's van washed in, then floated out again, "my van!" the man exclaimed, "I live in their!" Both Steven and his father waded out through the water to try and reach it, "oh, geez, wait! Wait! Wait!" Greg called.

To Be Continued


End file.
